Grace Thompson
France's history is deeply intertwined with the Catholic Church, with the country's kings historically upholding the Catholic faith. In 496, King Clovis I converted to Catholicism, and the country's population was almost entirely Catholic by the late 18th century. However, the French Revolution brought about a radical shift in the Church's relationship with the state, leading to the closure of churches and suppression of religious worship. Napoleon Bonaparte attempted to reconcile with the Church through the Concordat of 1801, but this did not recognise Catholicism as the state religion. It wasn't until the 1905 Law on the Separation of Church and State that all ties between Rome and the French government were officially severed, marking a move towards expansive secularism. While Catholicism remains the majority religion in France, adherence to it is declining.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Date Catholicism became the official religion of France | 496 AD, when King Clovis I converted from paganism to Catholicism |
| Relationship between the Catholic Church and the French State | The Catholic Church in France, also known as the Gallican Church, recognised the authority of the Pope as head of the Roman Catholic Church but negotiated certain liberties that privileged the authority of the French monarch, giving it a distinct national identity characterised by considerable autonomy |
| History of the Catholic Church in France | Established in the second century in unbroken communion with the bishop of Rome; first written records of Christians in France date from the second century |
| French Revolution's impact on Catholicism | Catholicism was suppressed during the French Revolution, with churches and religious orders closed down; by 1794, the majority of people desired the restoration of the Catholic religion |
| Napoleon Bonaparte's role in Catholicism | Napoleon negotiated a reconciliation with the Church through the 1801 Concordat, which established the Catholic Church as the French Church; he also introduced a feast day for 'Saint Napoleon' and used the Imperial Catechism to suggest his reign was authorised by God |
| Law on Separation of Church and State | The 1905 French law on the separation of Church and State removed the privileged status of Catholicism as the state religion, establishing state neutrality towards religious doctrine |
| Current status of Catholicism in France | Catholicism is the majority religion in France, but adherence is declining; the French Catholic Church today leans politically to the left |
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What You'll Learn
Catholicism was the official religion of the French state in 1789
The history of the Catholic Church and France are deeply intertwined. In the second century, the Catholic Church was established in France, with the first written records of Christians in the country dating back to the same period. Over the centuries, France's monarchs maintained close ties with the Pope in Rome, with the country being referred to as the "eldest daughter of the Church".
In 1789, the year of the outbreak of the French Revolution, Catholicism was the official religion of the French state. The French Catholic Church, known as the Gallican Church, recognised the authority of the Pope but had negotiated certain liberties that privileged the authority of the French monarch. This gave the church a distinct national identity characterised by considerable autonomy. At this time, France's population of 28 million was almost entirely Catholic, with full membership of the state denied to Protestant and Jewish minorities.
However, the French Revolution marked a turning point in the relationship between the Catholic Church and the French state. The Revolutionaries sought to secularise French society, inspired in part by the writings and philosophy of Voltaire. The new National Assembly abolished tithes, the mandatory 10% income tax paid to the Catholic Church, and expropriated the Church's vast wealth in endowments, lands, and buildings. The Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen, adopted in August 1789, proclaimed toleration and freedom of religion, but made no recognition of the special position of the Catholic Church.
The Revolution also led to the suppression of religious worship, with churches and religious orders closed down. This period of "dechristianisation" saw constitutional priests advised to abandon the priesthood and encouraged or forced to marry. By 1794, alternatives to Catholicism imposed by the Revolution, such as the Festival of the Supreme Being, had failed to gain widespread traction. The fall of Robespierre in July of that year brought a thaw towards religious practice, with the Convention recognising the need to accommodate private worship.
In 1801, Napoleon Bonaparte negotiated a reconciliation with the Church through the Concordat, whereby the State subsidised Catholicism and other religions. However, Napoleon's relationship with the Pope deteriorated, and his occupation of Rome in 1808 led to his excommunication. Despite attempts to repair the relationship, Napoleon's policies ultimately served to divide the members of the French Church and increase their loyalty to Rome. In 1905, a law was passed that formally separated Church and State in France, removing the privileged status of Catholicism as the state religion.
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Napoleon Bonaparte's Concordat of 1801
The Concordat of 1801 was an agreement between the First French Republic and the Holy See, signed by First Consul Napoleon Bonaparte and Pope Pius VII on 15 July 1801 in Paris. It was designed to regulate relations between Napoleon's France and the Catholic Church and remained in effect until 1905, except in Alsace-Lorraine, where it remains in force. The Concordat sought national reconciliation between the French Revolution and Catholics and solidified the Roman Catholic Church as the majority church of France, with most of its civil status restored.
The agreement gave Napoleon the right to nominate bishops and redistribute bishoprics and parishes. It allowed for the establishment of seminaries and the return of Catholic clergy from exile or hiding, who resumed their traditional positions in their traditional churches. The pope condoned the actions of those who had acquired church property, and the government agreed to provide suitable salaries for bishops and curés.
The Concordat did not restore the vast church lands and endowments that had been seized during the revolution and sold off. While it restored some ties to the papacy, it was largely in favour of the state, giving Napoleon greater control over Rome in a political sense. He took a utilitarian approach to the role of religion, winning favour with French Catholics while also controlling them.
Napoleon also presented another set of laws called the Organic Articles, consisting of 77 Articles relating to Catholicism and 44 Articles relating to Protestantism. These were published as a unilateral addition to the Concordat in 1802 and were a method of granting the Tribunate and the legislative body partial control of the Concordat. This allowed the state to monitor any politically harmful Catholic or Protestant movements or activities.
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The French Revolution and the Catholic Church
In 1789, the year the French Revolution broke out, Catholicism was the official religion of the French state. The French Catholic Church, known as the Gallican Church, recognised the authority of the pope as head of the Roman Catholic Church but had negotiated certain liberties that privileged the authority of the French monarch. France's population of 28 million was almost entirely Catholic, with full membership of the state denied to Protestant and Jewish minorities.
The revolutionary authorities suppressed the Church, abolished the Catholic monarchy, confiscated its land, eliminated its tithes, exiled 30,000 priests, and killed hundreds more. The Catholic Church was the largest landowner in the country, controlling vast properties and extracting massive revenues from its tenants. The Church also had enormous income from the collection of compulsory tithes. The revolutionary government soon mandated the observance of new forms of moral religion, including the deistic Cult of the Supreme Being and the atheistic Cult of Reason.
The Festival of the Supreme Being, held on 8 June 1794 throughout France and presided over in Paris by Robespierre, provided little beyond spectacle and, like other cults, it attracted minimal interest outside urban centres. Catholicism had been squeezed out of the Republic, but alternatives imposed from above failed to catch on. The fall of Robespierre in July 1794 brought a thaw towards religious practice. Dechristianisation had forced religious observance into the privacy of the home. With the emigration and abdication of so many priests, and the disruption of regular forms of worship, the laity had become accustomed to taking over services, even performing ‘white masses’ when there was no priest available.
The revolutionary government's actions towards the Church caused a schism among French Catholics, generating hostility towards the Revolution and its aims. Émigré priests and bishops preached against the Revolution from abroad, while those refractory priests who remained in France became a focal point for broader resentment of the Revolution.
Napoleon Bonaparte negotiated a reconciliation with the Church through the 1801 Concordat, whereby the State would subsidize Catholicism (recognised as the majority religion of the French), as well as Judaism, Lutheranism, and Calvinism. Napoleon increasingly sought to associate his personal rule with the Church, insisting on the pope’s attendance at his coronation ceremony in Paris in 1804, introducing a feast day for the rediscovered ‘Saint Napoleon’, and using the Imperial Catechism, recited by children at Sunday School, to suggest that his reign was authorised by God himself. Yet even as he did so, Napoleon’s disdain for Rome became ever more apparent. Not only did he export revolutionary policy concerning religion by closing down monasteries and seizing Church property, but he introduced the Concordat in conquered territories, bringing the Catholic Church in other countries under his rule. Napoleon’s occupation of Rome in 1808 brought the relationship to breaking point.
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The role of the Catholic Church during World War II
France became predominantly Catholic in 496 AD when Remigius baptized King Clovis I, converting him from paganism to Catholicism. In 800 AD, Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne Emperor of the Roman Empire, establishing the French government's long historical association with the Catholic Church.
During World War II, the Catholic Church in France was criticized for its silence over the deportation of Jews. The Vichy government had provided the Church with the draft law on the status of Jews. Despite this, many priests, monks, nuns, and laypersons are said to have helped Jews and defied the Vichy government. Several bishops and archbishops wrote sermons to be read to their followers, helping to change the tide in public opinion, generate sympathy, and foment resistance.
Some members of the Catholic Church in France actively participated in the Resistance and hid Jewish adults and children. Lucien Bunel, known as Father Jacques, founded a college in Avon before the war. During the Occupation, he joined the Resistance and hid Jews. He was arrested and deported to concentration camps in 1944, where he devoted himself to helping other prisoners until he died of exhaustion in Austria a month after the camp was liberated.
In addition to these individual acts of resistance, the Church also tried to provide official explanations and acts of repentance after the war. In 1947, Archbishop-Coadjutor of Cambrai Arch. Guerry, former secretary of the ACA, sought to justify the silence of the Church during the early years of the war. In 1995, about 85 bishops, priests, and French religious individuals were honored by the Yad Vashem medal, recognizing the "Righteous Among the Nations".
However, there are also accounts of the Catholic Church's complicity with the Nazi regime during World War II. For example, Brian Moore's novel "The Statement" depicts the post-war Catholic Church network in France that shielded Nazi collaborators. The novel is based on the actual case of Paul Touvier, who was passed from one Catholic retreat to another for 40 years, evading arrest for his collaboration with the Nazis.
Furthermore, there are accounts of Jewish children being forcibly baptized by the Church during the war and then refused to be returned to their Jewish relatives, as the Church claimed custody under canon law. The story of the complicity of the Vatican and Pope Pius XII ("Hitler's Pope") with the Nazi regime is well-known and has been documented in various sources, including an article in The Atlantic.
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The decline of Catholicism in France
France has a long and complex religious history, with Catholicism playing a significant role in the country's cultural and political life for centuries. While it is difficult to pinpoint an exact date when France became 'officially' Catholic, it is safe to say that Catholicism was firmly established as the dominant religion by the time of the Frankish King Clovis I, who converted to the faith in 496 AD.
However, despite its deep roots in French society, Catholicism in France has been in a state of decline in recent decades. This decline can be attributed to a variety of political, social, and cultural factors that have shaped modern France.
One of the key factors contributing to the decline of Catholicism in France is the country's long tradition of secularism. France has a strong history of separating church and state, which can be traced back to the French Revolution of 1789. The Revolution saw a sharp break with the country's religious past, as the Catholic Church's power and influence were drastically reduced. The Revolution's ideals of liberty, equality, and fraternity emphasized a more secular vision for France, and the country has largely maintained this secular character ever since.
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a series of laws further cemented the separation of church and state. These included the 1905 law on the separation of Church and State, which established state secularism (known as laïcité) and led to the nationalization of church property and the end of public funding for religious organizations. These laws created a clear divide between religion and public life in France, limiting the influence of the Catholic Church in education, politics, and other spheres.
In addition to secularism, social and cultural changes in France have also contributed to the decline in religious observance. As in many other Western countries, processes of modernization, urbanization, and globalization have led to shifts in social values and attitudes, with traditional religious practices and beliefs often being called into question or abandoned. The increasing diversity of French society, with growing Muslim, Buddhist, and non-religious populations, has also contributed to the changing religious landscape.
Demographically, the decline of Catholicism in France is evident in various trends. Church attendance has been steadily declining for decades, with only about 5% of the population regularly attending Mass as of 2016. The number of baptisms has also decreased, with many choosing to delay or forgo the traditional religious rite for their children. Additionally, the number of Catholics choosing to enter the priesthood or religious life has been in decline, leading to a shortage of clergy and potential closure of churches.
In conclusion, while France has a long history as a Catholic country, the religion's influence has been on the decline in recent times. This decline is shaped by a variety of factors, including France's strong tradition of secularism, modernization, and social and cultural changes that have led to shifts in religious beliefs and practices. While Catholicism remains an important part of France's cultural heritage, its role in the lives of modern French citizens continues to evolve and adapt to the changing social landscape.
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Frequently asked questions
Roman Catholicism became the state religion of France in 496 AD with the conversion of King Clovis I from paganism to Catholicism.
In 1789, at the start of the French Revolution, Catholicism was the official religion of the French state. However, by 1794, France's churches and religious orders were closed, and religious worship was suppressed. The Festival of the Supreme Being, held on 8 June 1794, failed to attract interest and Catholicism was squeezed out of the Republic.
In 1905, the French government passed a law on the separation of Church and State, removing the privileged status of the Catholic Church as the state religion.
